Paluckas’ lawyer accuses prosecutors of ‘legal engineering’ to bypass statute of limitations

The lawyer for Lithuanian MP Gintautas Paluckas has accused prosecutors of deliberately structuring corruption allegations to avoid the 12-year statute of limitations, calling it an act of “legal engineering,” LRT reports.

Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė has requested that the Seimas (Lithuanian parliament) lift Paluckas’ legal immunity so investigators can formally charge him in a long-running probe into suspected illicit enrichment. According to documents seen by BNS, prosecutors allege that Paluckas and his wife acquired assets worth nearly €344,578 through unexplained income between 2010 and 2024.

Darius Raulušaitis, Paluckas’ defense attorney, claims the timing of the charges is a calculated move to extend the investigation beyond the legal timeframe. “The vast majority of the financial transactions in question occurred before the end of 2014,” he told BNS. “Later transactions are included in the allegations solely to push back the statute of limitations, since illicit enrichment is a continuing offense—its limitation period starts only when the activity ends.”

The statute of limitations for such cases is 12 years. With 2026 now underway, Raulušaitis argues that any alleged wrongdoing before mid-2014 should already be time-barred. “The core acquisitions listed in the request to strip Paluckas’ immunity all date to before 2014,” he said. “From 2015 onward, there are no suspicious transactions—just routine deposits and cash withdrawals.”

Raulušaitis acknowledged prosecutors’ right to investigate but criticized what he called an attempt to “circumvent legal boundaries.” He urged respect for principles like legal certainty and proportionality, adding: “There comes a point when law enforcement must accept that the time for investigation has passed. You can’t indefinitely reopen decade-old cases just to avoid the statute of limitations.”

Prosecutors allege that Paluckas and his wife used €231,000 in unexplained cash—converted from 800,136 litas—to purchase vehicles, real estate, and securities, along with an additional €54,000 obtained through “sham transactions” via a Cyprus-registered company. Raulušaitis countered that most of the litas-denominated sums predate Lithuania’s 2015 euro adoption and that Paluckas has provided documentation linking the funds to legitimate income, including salaries, savings, and business earnings from before 2014.

“We’ve submitted compelling explanations for the origins of these funds,” the lawyer said. “Yes, some records may be incomplete after all this time, but questions should have been raised—and answered—years ago, not now, when prosecutors are scrambling to justify reopening old cases.”